Also, public transit systems are very safe during commuter hours. That’s when they work best. If I were a parent, I would not be concerned about letting my children take public transit / walk home as a group during 3-4pm. The city really is filled with other kids doing the same thing.
This was my life as a kid. It was wonderful. I made and maintained some of my best friendships literally just going to or from home on the subway with schoolmates.
Then between 5-6pm it shifts to adult commuters, just as packed.
I’ve always thought that that was cool. There’s these two groups both using the system, separated by a few hours, living parallel lives.
And the kids seem to have a lot of fun here.